Spring-clasp



(No Model.)

W. s. GIBBONS.

SPRING CLASP.

No. 439,652. Patented Nov. 4, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIS S. GIBBONS, OF RUSSELL, NEXV YORK.

SPRING-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,652, dated November4, 1890.

Application filed April 17, 1890.

To all whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, WILLIS S. GIBBONS, of Russell, in the county ofSt. Lawrence and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Spring-Clasps, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part thereof.

My invention relates to that class of springclasps, principally designedfor use on overshoes, composed of two members, the one comprising a baseplate or plates having pivotally mounted thereon a spring -actuatedtongue, and the other consisting of a transversely-slotted plateadaptedto operatively engage said tongue, each of said members beingprovided with means whereby it can be secured to the instep-flap of anovershoe, or to any article upon which the clasp is adapted to be used.In such clasps, as heretofore constructed, the tongue has been providedwith two laterally-projecting ears or lugs, which, by projecting betweentwo plates of spring metal superposed one upon the other and forming thebase, constitute the pivot or hinge upon which the tongue turns, theaction of said plates upon said ears or lugs being relied upon to retainthe tongue in both its open and closed positions. The tongue is thusmounted upon the base at one end of the latter, and is of such lengththat in its closed position its free end projects considerably beyondthe base, and rests upon the strap or other device to which the base issecured.

The clasp thus constructed has been found to be open to seriousobjections, some of which are as follows: The cars or lugs which formthe pivot of the tongue are frequently bent or broken in the use of theclasp, and when this occurs the clasp is rendered worthless, as the costof renewing said ears or lugs usually exceeds the original cost of theclasp. The slight leverage of the plates composing the base upon thetongue renders the springaction of the former insufficient to properlyretain the tongue in its closed position, and as a consequence thestrain on the clasp frequently moves the tongue to its open position,thereby releasing the slotted plate composing the second member of theclasp, from its engagement with said tongue. Again, the free end of thetongue, by projecting beyond Serial in. 348,308. (No model.)

the base in the closed position of said tongue, is exposed in suchmanner that objects with which the clasp is brought into contact areliable to force the tongue to its open position, as well as to bend orbreak it, and thisliability is increased by the fact that the connectionbetween the base and its strap or other device is overlapped by thetongue in its closed position, thereby causing the free end of thetongue to stand out somewhat from said strap.

It is the object of my invention to provide a clasp which will be freefrom the defects above noted, and which will be much stronger and moredurable than those heretofore constructed.

To these ends my invention consists in the clasp constructed andoperating as hereinaf ter fully described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters desgnate like parts inthe several figures, Figure 1 is an isometric View of the clasp with thetwo members thereof in operative engagement with each other. Figs. 2 and3 are similar views of the two members of the clasp separated from eachother. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the clasp, as shown inFig. 1.

The letter a designates atransversely-slotted plate, forming one memberof the clasp, which plate is or may be similar in its construction tothose heretofore employed. The second member of the clasp is composed ofa base I) and a tongue 0, pivotally mounted thereon. \Ve prefer to makesaid base of a single plate of steel or other suitable metal, having acentrally-located open recess at one end thereof to receive the rear endof the tongue. At the ends of the two portions of the plate lying uponopposite sides of said recess are located eyes b, through which andcorrespondin g eyes 0 on the tongue extends a pin b which forms thepivot upon which the tongue turns from its open to its closedposition,and vice versa. The eyes I) 0 will, preferably,

be formed integrally with the base and tongue, respectively, by bendingup portions thereof or otherwise; but can be soldered or otherwisesecured thereto,if desired. Avery strong and durable connection betweenthe tongue and base is thus formed, .and should the pin Z2 be bentorbroken it can bereadily removed and straightened or a new one insertedwithout disturbing the other parts of the clasp.

The letter (I designates a flat spring, which is riveted or otherwisesecu red to the base at one end, and at its opposite end bears against alug or lip on tongue in such manner as to normally retain the tongue ineither its open or closed position. As herein shown, said lip or lug cis formed by bending the end of the tongue to the proper shape beyondthe plane of the eyes 0, (see Figs. 3 and 4;) but it can be otherwiseformed, and can be secured to the tongue in any suitable manner. Thelength of said lug is such as to at ford the spring sufficient leverageupon the tongue to prevent accidental movement of the latter in the useof the clasp, and a common cause of obj ectiou to such clasps asheretofore made is obviated. The relative lengths of the base and tongueare such that the former projects beyond the end of the latter when itis in its closed position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and in suchprojecting portion of the base is made the opening 1) to receive thestrap or other device to which it is secured, and I prefer to make saidopening of such size that the free end of the tongue will overlie aportion thereof in the closed position of the tongue to facilitateinserting the finger beneath the tongue to move it to its open position,said free end of the latter being preferably made slightlyeoncavo-convcx in cross-section for the same purpose, as shown in Fig.3. By thus locating the strapopening beyond the end of the tongue thelatter is permitted to closely hug the base when in its closed position,and the possibility of accidental movement thereof is rendered veryremote. To still further guard against such accidental movement of thetongue, however, I provide the base with flanges I)" at the sidesthereof, which flanges may be formed integral therewith or securedthereto. The outer edge of said flanges proj ects beyond the plane ofthe outer side of the tongue in the closed position of the latter, andis preferably eurved to correspond with the curvature of said tongue, asshown. \Vhen the tongue is in its closed position, said flanges formsolid walls extending from end to end thereof to prevent any object fromentering between the tongue and base to move the former away from thelatter.

As hereinbcfore stated, the clasp thus constructed is especiallydesigned for use upon overshoes, and in such case the two membersthereof will be curved longitudinally, as shown, and will be secured tothe instep-flaps of the shoe,as represented in Fig. 1, or in anysuitable manner. The two members of the clasp are engaged with anddisengaged from each other in the usual manner. Overshoes provided withclasps are much worn by lumbermen and others engaged in heavy out-ofdoorwork, and much trouble and annoyance has been caused by the fact that inwalking through deep snow and among logs and underbrnsh, the tongue isconstantly being forced from its closed to its open position, therebypermitting the two members to separate from each other and loosening theshoe. In the clasp devised by me the powerful action upon the tongue byits spring, the relative lengths of the tongue and base, and the guardsat the sides of said base entirely obviate such objectiomas the tonguecannot be accidentally moved from its closed to its open position.

The clasp herein shown and described can be manufactured at a slightcost by stamping its parts from sheet-steel or other suitable metal, andthen bending said parts to the desired form, and it is obvious thatmodifications in the form of the several parts as well as in the variousdetails of construction can be made without departure from the spirit ofmy invention. For example, it is obvious that the application of theguards devised by me to the sides of the base in the form of claspheretofore used, would to a great extent obviate the obj cctions towhich it is now open, while such a construction would be manifestlyincluded within the scope of my invention. It is obvious, furthermore,that the particular construction of the tongue-supporting member of theclasp, as herein set forth, is not dependent upon the particularconstruction of the second member or the one which engages the tongue,and that the form of the latter can be changed, as may be desired,without affecting the former.

Having thus fullydescribcd my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a clasp of the kind described, a tonguesupporting member composedof a base-plate having an opening therein near one end thereof, saidplate having a tongue pivotally secured to said plate at the oppositeend of the latter, said tongue being of such length that in its closedposition its free end will register with the opening in said plate andhaving said free end curved transversely to facilitate the insertion ofthe finger thereunder, and a second member composed of a slotted plateadapted to operatively engage said tongue, combined andoperatingsubstantially as and for the purpose described.

2. Inaclasp of the kind described, atonguesupporting member composed ofa base-plate having pivotally connected thereto at or near one endthereof a tongue and having projections extending from the face thereofat substantially a right angle to said face to a point beyond the planeoccupied by the tongue in its closed position, whereby said projectionsare adapted to serve as guards to said tongue, and a second membercomposed of a slotted plate adapted to operatively engage said tongue,combined and operating substantially as set forth.

The clasp herein described composed of two members, one of said membersconsisting of a longitudinally-curved base-plate having pivot-allyconnected to one end thereof a spring-actuated tongue which is of lesslength than said plate and having at the two sides thereofoutwardly-extending flanges, which project to or beyond the planeoccupied by said tongue when in its closed position, and the other ofsaid members consisting of a longitudinally-curved plate having thereina series of transverse openings to receive said to tongue, each of saidmembers being provided with means whereby they can be secured to theinstep-flaps of an overshoe, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

WILLIS S. GIBBONS. Witnesses:

' R. G. SMITH,

HARRY F. PALMER.

